March 14, 2013

A Transfer Of Power Has Occurred In Android

If you didn't already know, there's a new man in charge of Android. Andy Rubin has left to work in another part of Google, and has left Sundar Pichai, that's right, the current man in charge of Chrome, in charge of Android as well. Given Chrome's success it is clear that Android is not being left in the hands of the incapable, and I personally think Android will continue to flourish. The question does arise however, what can we expect to come with this new leader?The merging of Chrome OS and AndroidThis one stands out to me the most. There have been rumors and hints between a Chrome OS and Android merging. Think about the most recent changes that you have heard about to Chrome OS:

It may not be soon, or it may even be something revealed this year at Google I/O. But for now, I really do hope this happens.

A Chrome experience on Android as powerful as that of a computer

Let's admit it, the Google Chrome app could use some major enhancements on Android. Not only in performance, but also in features. Not everything would be necessary, but it would be pretty cool to have extensions or themes for Chrome on mobile devices. The Chrome team pulled it off pretty nicely on the computer version, and it would be interesting to see them do the same for mobile.Some changes to the user interfaceIt would be difficult to get ideas for Android from Chrome, but there are some things that would be neat to have in Android. Take the tabs on mobile versions of Chrome for example. You can swipe in between them. Now imagine apps being treated like this, where you could swipe in between apps as simply as tabs. As I said earlier, this one would be more difficult but definitely not impossible.

What can Android gain?

I'm going to switch things up a little bit now. Instead of thinking about Android getting a "Chrome-skilled" leader, I'm going to say that Chrome now has an "Android-skilled" leader. I think this is more important. Rather than what can he bring to Android, the question is now what can he bring to Chrome? So why is this more important in my opinion? It's simple. When I say Chrome I'm talking about the browser, not the OS. The browser is accessible to all, whereas the newest version of Android...well...let's not go there (but it is turning around slowly!).So what can be brought to Chrome from Android? I think there's a lot. Google Now and a notification area are already expected, and if these are as powerful as their Android counter parts that would be truly incredible. Maybe a built in speech to text system that can be used in any text field (this could be released very soon, there is already built in speech to text).

Forget the Android Apps section of the Google Play Store. I want Google Games

This one is one is my favorite of them all. Imagine Android apps running on Chrome. That would just be amazing.Will changes come? YesWe can't really predict what will come to Chromedroid over the next few years, but I am confident it will continue to improve at a rapid pace. These are just a few of the ideas I hope to see implemented. Maybe at Google I/O they have a nice surprise for us? Hopefully.